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Customer Reviews of Arms and Influence.:

Arms & Influence is a little repetitive, but still a fascinating look at the way countries can use war, violence, threats and generally nasty behavior to get what they want. Schelling analyzes war in terms of "bargaining" - i.e. we'll hit you this hard now to show we mean it, and ten times harder if you don't give us what you want next week.

The theory explains a lot - but if you take it too far it can be too clever by half. One of his examples of a precise, well-considered and effective strike intended to deliver a clear message that an adversary would have to recognize is the Johnson Administration's retaliation for the Tonkin Gulf incident. The book was written in early 1965.

subtle but very understandable
The greatest thing about this book is that Schelling makes it so readable. Unlike many scholar-type, who sometimes write in Martian, Schelling carefully dissect a delicate subject (arms, deterrence, and war) into explanable sections. The next thing that's good about this book is that it educates the readers on the subtlety in formulating responses to world events. People, who read this book, will watch the news or read the newspapers with a much more critical view of what decision makers are trying to do and possibly formulate your own judgement instead of listening to media pundits criticize any decisons ever made.

An excellent read for anybody, regardless of your field.
I read this book for a political science class in advanced international relations theory. Even considering the topic of the class, I couldn't put this book down. Schelling writes for the average reader on subjects everybody can use in their daily lives, and applies them to international relations. Regardless of your area of study, this book offers something for everybody.